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Allister Park
) | professional affiliations = International Court for the Continent of Skrelleland (as Scoglund) | political office = Assistant Secretary of War of Vinland (as Park) | religion= Unclear (as Park); (as Scoglund) | birth= | occupation= , (as Park); Bishop, ic (as Scoglund) | spouse= None | caption = Park's many crosstime analogs, drawn by Edd Cartier}}Allister Park is the main character in L. Sprague de Camp's 1940 short work, "The Wheels of If". He appeared again in Harry Turtledove's "The Pugnacious Peacemaker", a sequel to de Camp's work. In "The Wheels of If", Park, a lawyer from New York City, repeatedly finds himself in a series of alternate timelines, before finally coming to rest in a world where, thanks to various changes in the Middle Ages, the Vikings were able to extensively colonize North Skrelleland (North America). He comes to rest in the body of Ib Scoglund, a bishop and political activist in New Belfast, Bretwaldate of Vinland. Coming to grips with his situation, Park acts as both Scoglund and in his identity of Park through a simple disguise. Park learns that he displacement of his consciousness is incidental to a plot directed against Bishop Ib Scoglund, whose campaign to extend civil rights to Vinland's native inhabitants, the Skrellings, has aroused opposition in rural provinces. While the Skrellings were emancipated from slavery in the past, they are still second-class citizens and a source of cheap labor. A group of opponents discovered a man named Joe Noggle, who can manipulate the "wheel of if", rotating identities in a circular motion through the multiverse. To get home, Park must continue his counterpart's struggle while somehow unraveling the mystery of how to reunite the minds of all his selves with their proper realities. He takes Scoglund's manservant Eric Dunedin into his confidence. He also receives aid from Rufus Callahan, the Sachem of the Skrellings of Vinland, who also learned of Joe Noggle's ability. As Scoglund, he continues to push for social justice. As the disguised Park, he becomes a political fixer in New Belfast, compromising various opponents and pushing through expansion of civil rights. When a secession crisis erupts, Vinland's neighbor and rival, Dakotia, prepares to intervene. Park uses his knowledge of the American Civil War and his own skills to become the Assistant Secretary of War. From this position, he plays Vinland's enemies off of each other. Vinland emerges victorious, and Park becomes a hero as both Scoglund and Park. Preparing to leave this world, he fakes the death of his Park identity. At the very end of the story, the International Court appoints Scoglund/Park as a member of the International Court for the Continent of Skrelleland. As a position on the bench was his long term goal in his former life, Park concludes that he will have a much better life here, and elects to stay as Scoglund. Allister Park in "The Pugnacious Peacemaker" }}A year after Allister Park decided to stay within the body of Judge Ib Scoglund, he and his servant Eric Dunedin traveled to Tawantiinsuuju (the Inca Empire) to help settle a disagreement between the empire and its neighbor, the Emirate of the dar al-Harb.Down in the Bottomlands and Other Places, see, e.g., pgs. 215-219, MMP. References Category:Vinlanders Category:Bishops (Fictional Work) Category:Crosstimers Category:Prisoners Category:Smokers